Cole flipped through his textbook as he laid in bed with only the small lamp attached to the side of his bed for light. The evening meal had passed, but Cole and Blake felt a bit uneasy after what had happened in the mess hall that night. It was just a simple evening meal of spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad, but as Cole, Blake and Tim were finishing up, they noticed that Hal came in with Greg and Drake alongside him looking as if he had just lost to them. Mr. Garrison was around and needless to say, Hal certainly didn't sound happy as he marched up to the table where Cole, Blake and Tim were and slammed his fist on the table making it rattle a second before he even started.

"You think you can one-up me like that?!", he sneered, "I have to clean up the park for the next two weeks when I'm not in school!"

Cole raised an eyebrow.

"We didn't tell on you if that's what you're implying.", he said trying to sound calm, "Guess Officer Ford and Kirby were just too good at their jobs to find out it was you."

Unfortunately, that seemed to only make Hal more tense.

"This…isn't…over.", he growled, "You just watch."

"Mr. Stone!"

Hal paused as he noticed Mr. Garrison walked over.

"These boys did no such thing as ratting you out. What you did was wrong and you're lucky that Mrs. Wilson didn't take you to court. If you're going to try and give this group a hard time, I may as well call Mr. Ford and have Mr. Kirby take you in for further questioning."

That seemed to make Hal back off, but the cold glare he gave Cole made Cole uneasy. Blake knocked on the wall underneath which brought Cole out of his thoughts.

"You okay up there?"

Cole took a breath before talking.

"Yeah, just… trying to get over what happened earlier."

No answer at first, but then Blake showed up alongside Cole's bedside looking comforting.

"Hey, he brought all of this on himself.", he assured, "He may have wanted to prank us, but Mrs. Wilson got caught. Assaulting a staff member of the school is highly discouraged and punishable. Knowing Hal, he probably got a high lawyer that his parents paid for so that he could get a lighter sentence than what he would've got."

Cole chuckled for a bit before he closed his textbook and handed it over.

"Could you set this on the desk by the window?", he asked.

Blake nodded and after taking the book from Cole, set it where Cole asked and returned to Cole's bedside so the two could continue talking.

"We're doing great.", Blake told him, "I just need to ace this exam and maybe this weekend we can see a movie?"

Cole felt better already.

"Which one?", he asked, "I think we'll look up what's playing and we can choose which one to go to."

"I'm game.", Blake said, "Who's buying popcorn and soda?"

Cole looked thoughtful for a moment.

"How about this: after the next big test in our classes, we compare scores and the lower score has to pay for the popcorn and soda."

That was all Blake had to hear.

"You're on.", he answered.

Cole and Blake shared a handshake and settled into bed after Blake got into bed and Cole got his bed light.

/

The following morning, Cole and Blake met up with Tim in the mess hall, but kept an eye out.

"Geez, you think Hal is going to leave us be after that prank gone wrong?", Tim asked before starting on his hashbrowns.

Cole shook his head smiling as he took a forkful of eggs.

"After getting a punishment like this? He's probably going to make sure we get hit hard. Starting with me since I'm now considered Mr. Lars' favorite student."

Blake looked a bit surprised as he took a swing of his orange juice and swallowed his toast.

"You, the teacher's pet in Mr. Lars' class?"

"Well, guess this is what you get for getting your work in on time and following directions.", Tim said with a shrug.

Cole looked a bit embarrassed.

"I'm just trying to pass the class.", he admitted, "And I need to think of a paper for Mr. Lars by next week."

"Anything in mind?", Tim asked, "Maybe CAP can help."

Just as Tim got out his laptop, all three boys noticed the familiar scene of Hal entering with Drake and Greg which made Tim put his laptop away.

"Want to leave before they get ideas?", Cole asked.

Blake and Tim didn't have to be asked twice as they got up and got their trays in to the kitchen when Hal's voice caught their ears.

"You three aren't leaving are you? We just got here and would like a word."

Cole and Blake clearly believed that this was a prank and Tim clearly got the message as well cause they all just kept walking.

"What? No comeback?", Hal called after them, "Still study grouping rather than working on your athletic form?"

"I don't know Hal.", Greg put in, "Maybe they're behind in grades."

Hal shot Greg a firm look before turning to see Cole, Blake and Tim had already left.

"Guess you missed your shot.", Drake said with a shrug.

Hal shot his icy gaze at Drake before smiling.

"Don't worry, I know where they're going. Come on."

He started to leave before Mr. Ford and Mr. Kirby came out pausing the trio in their tracks.

"And just where do you three think you're going?", Mr. Ford asked firmly.

Hal tried to look innocent, but the look on Mr. Kirby's face clearly showed that the officer wasn't buying it.

"We were hoping to get some study time in."

Mr. Ford raised an eyebrow.

"Then why is there some paintballs in your friend's bags?"

Greg and Drake flinched as they thought nobody else knew about what they had in mind.

"Now, you can hand over the unauthorized property peacefully or we can take it by force and put the three of you to work cleaning up that highway a few miles outside the campus for picking up the litter, dead animals, and whatever else we can find. What's it going to be?"

Hal sighed as Greg and Drake handed over their backpacks and Mr. Kirby foraged through to get the paintballs and guns used to fire them out and handed them over to Mr. Ford who packed them into a bag marked "Confiscated" and smiling like he had won the Olympics.

"Thought so."

/

Cole flipped through some books before writing down some ideas.

"Could I go to some exotic location like India?", he asked himself, "Maybe somewhere mysterious like China? Maybe New York for a life in the Bronx?"

He then noticed a book near the end of the aisle and took a break to check it out. After pulling it out, he looked a bit curious.

"The Sword of Shannara?", he wondered, "This could open some ideas."

After reading a few chapters, Cole glanced at the clock and a surge of worry made him put the book back and gather his stuff before heading out. He had just gotten to Mr. Lars' class just as Mr. Lars noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry I'm late.", Cole huffed as he got to his desk.

Mr. Lars turned his way and tapped his fingers on his arm after crossing them.

"Mr. Marty, if you are going to arrive at the nick of time before class starts, I expect you to recite the works of literature we will be studying next week.", he said looking firm.

Cole knew what Mr. Lars ment, but as long as he did his work and turned it in on time, Mr. Lars wouldn't give him a hard time. Mr. Lars sighed and uncrossed his arms before addressing the class.

"As you all know, the test is next week and the paper assignment I gave is due at the end of the week which is the day after tomorrow. And for your sakes, I hope you all studied cause I can tell which of you did and which of you slacked off."

Nobody in the class could disagree with that and even though Cole had now been moved to a desk that was like everyone else's, he dared not make Mr. Lars tense or upset. As the class started, Mr. Lars looked to Cole and snapped his fingers twice.

"Mr. Marty, could you see me at my desk please?"

Cole got up and walked over then Mr. Lars looked his way smiling.

"As you know, you were assigned a Fantasy paper, were you not?"

Cole remembered it alright. Mr. Lars had an unusual way of assigning papers to his students and this time was no exception. He wrote a list of genres, put them in a small bucket and as the students passed it around, they each picked a piece of paper and that was the type of paper they had to write.

"Well?", Mr. Lars asked.

Cole snapped out of his thoughts and answered.

"Yes, Mr. Lars.", he answered.

Mr. Lars raised an eyebrow.

"And?", he asked, "What have you got?"

Cole sighed as he thought about what he had.

"Well, I found The Sword of Shannon if that works.", he admitted, "But I'm guessing it doesn't?"

Mr. Lars' expression didn't flinch.

"In what way?", he asked, "Writing is not just art, it's expression of one's creative spark and you have talent Cole, don't squander it."

/

Cole felt a bit better when he went back to his desk. The class went by okay and by the time class was over, Cole met up with Blake and Tim outside for some outdoor activity. Soon, Cole and Blake were running the track with Tim right on their heels.

"Man, this feels so good.", Cole sighed, "The cool autumn air, and doing track with your best buds."

Blake smiled as Cole and him jumped the bars and kept running while Tim was having some difficulty.

"How in the world do you do that?", Tim asked when the trio took a break to drink some water.

"Plenty of practice.", Blake answered, "And the wild Alaska landscape."

Cole couldn't help but recall his track and field days in high school. Then he noticed some brush move for a moment and he started to walk over a bit.

"Cole, you okay?", Tim asked.

Cole snapped out of his trance and looked their way a bit embarrassed.

"Sorry, I just…thought I saw something."

Blake chuckled as he finished his water.

"Hey, you did great for a runner Tim.", he said changing the subject, "You should do this more often."

Tim blushed as he wiped his sweaty brow.

"Guess I should cut back on the programming and get more physical, huh?"

Cole rubbed it off as he thought about checking out that brush and seeing what was there. Luckily, he had a chance while Blake and Tim were getting refills of water. He walked over and after pulling back some brush, he noticed some white fur strands and examined them.

"Wolf hair?", he asked himself before looking awestruck, "Aniu?"

A wolf howl caught his ears and he turned to see a pool of water where he headed over to see Aniu looking back at him with Nava beside her. He looked the same way he did during his third visit to Balto's world.

"How can this be?", Cole asked.

"We sense you're tense.", Nava stated plainly.

Cole sighed.

"I just…well, I just…"

"Didn't get to say good-bye?", Aniu asked calmly.

Cole nodded choosing that if this was a projection of his guilty conscious, and he may as well get it over with.

"Does Balto…know?"

Nava smiled.

"He does.", he answered, "For he heard you when you said it."

Now Cole was confused when he felt something brush behind him. He turned to see another classmate run past which he shook off and returned his gaze to the pool only to see Aniu and Nava no longer there.

"That was…weird.", Cole thought as he came out of the brush and examined the ivory wolf head on his pendant among the other charms, "This thing is really getting interesting."

The day did not pick up from there. Whenever Hal was in the same room as him, Cole often heard Hal throw insults and trying to bludgeon him into getting violent so that Cole would be in trouble for once. Still, Cole didn't rise to the occasion and tried to focus on his work and by the time lunch rolled around, Blake and Tim met up with him at their table not looking any worse than he did.

"Greg and Drake giving you guys grief too?", Cole asked.

"You have no idea.", Tim answered, "They asked to use CAP for homework and threatened me with a wedgie with used toilet paper stuffed in my underwear after they finished."

"Can't be worse than what they did in medical studies.", Blake griped as he stabbed at his steak, "Greg wouldn't stop interrupting me when I had to give a report on severe organ diseases. If the teacher hadn't threatened to send him to the dean's office, I would have snapped and give him a piece of my mind."

Cole knew that it would be suicide if Blake did, but thankful that Blake didn't.

"What about you Cole?", Tim asked trying to change the subject, "You got something for Mr. Lars?"

Cole felt relieved since the subject was no longer on Hal, Greg, or Drake.

"Yeah, I think I got something. Maybe it might make the grade."

"As long as it's not copied.", Tim reminded, "Mr. Lars' comparing program knows the difference."

Cole nodded and surprisingly, Hal and his friends were nowhere in sight so as the trio headed out and got ready for afternoon class, Cole noticed a shimmer on the amber part of his necklace. That ment he was going to have another adventure with Littlefoot and the gang.

"So, we'll see each other at dinner?", Tim asked.

Cole was brought out of his thoughts and nodded alongside Blake.

"You bet."

"I'm there.", Blake stated, "Soon, I might get some field work in the neighboring hospital."

Cole looked inspired.

"Wow Blake, we may as well call you Dr. Wolfen more often by the way you're going."

Blake said nothing, but gave a nod of approval before Tim and him headed off. Cole headed to the bathroom pondering what he had witnessed earlier to the farewell he said to Balto that one time. Before he could ponder further, he felt a warm wind around him and the mirror shimmered as the amber part of his necklace lit up.

"Well, I guess I'll be going on another adventure.", he admitted as a familiar feeling washed over him, "I'll worry about how Aniu and Nava were able to contact me to let me know that Balto knows that I said good-bye."

Cole took a breath and placed his fingers on the mirror's surface and the feeling got stronger as the mirror lit up further.

"Here it goes.", Cole said closing his eyes so he wouldn't go blind.

And in the time it takes to wink an eye, Cole vanished without leaving a trace once more.